Author: Gillian Edevane / Source: Newsweek
During a 15-minute interview Sunday with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press, presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg defended himself against critiques that he lacks political experience while also criticizing President Donald Trump’s caustic rhetoric.
Todd began by asking Buttigieg — mayor of South Bend, Indiana — why he felt qualified to sit in the Oval Office, despite never having served as an elected official in Washington like other contenders for the Democratic ticket, including Senators Elizabeth Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
In response, Buttigieg argued that his relative inexperience was, in acutality, an advantage.
“I would stack up my experience against anybody,” he said. “I know it’s not as traditional, I haven’t been marinating in Washington here for a very long time and I’m not part of that same establishment but I would argue that being a mayor of a city of any size means that you have to deal with the kinds of issues that hit really hit Americans.”
He continued by noting his extensive experience serving in the U.S. military, and then suggested his candidacy would be an antidote to the fiery rhetoric oozing out of the Trump administration, which he said suffers from a “loss of vision” and a “loss of decency.”
“It just might…
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